MOUNT OLIVE — As firefighters made their way through the black, smoky maze Monday, they found Hesham Moustafa covering his 7-year-old son.

"The son was in the bathtub and the father was slumped over the bathtub," said Chief Frank Zeller of Flanders Fire Company No. 1 and Rescue Squad.

Moustafa, 52, and the boy were pronounced dead soon after they were carried out of their Main Street apartment.

Firefighters also carried an unconscious girl, who was unidentified, from the burning building. The girl was revived and flown to Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, where she was listed in critical condition last night, authorities said.

The fire began about 4 a.m. in the Moustafas’ first-floor apartment on Main Street in the Flanders section of Mount Olive.

Moustafa’s wife, Carmella, escaped the flames by running out the front door with her daughter. A neighbor said she cried, "My babies! My babies!" and had to be restrained from running back inside.

Hesham Moustafa, 52, and Cristiano Bonner, 7 who died in Monday's house fire in Flanders.Facebook

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, authorities said.

A sixth occupant of the apartment was not home at the time of the fire, authorities said.

It was unclear Monday whether Moustafa was the boy’s father or stepfather, and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment on the specific relationships among the occupants of the apartment.

The two-story white house with black shutters, which sits across from a Catholic church and a barbershop, had four apartments.

Residents of the other apartments made it out safely, officials said.

Zeller said that when he arrived, all he heard was the roar of the fire and the squeal of the smoke alarms. He said he was stunned by the fire’s size.

"There is a difference between firefighting and then hearing the fact that, ‘We have people,’â " Zeller said. "Your heart picks up another pace and your mind-set goes to another whole ball game. Now you’re paying attention to fire, but you’re paying attention to any sound, any whimper for help."

He said firefighters brought the girl out the front door, then went back through the burning kitchen and found the father and son in the bathroom. The firefighters carried them out through the bathroom window and tried to revive the boy, Zeller said.

"They had no vision," he said of the firefighters. "It was black. Until we got a fan to help push smoke out of the building, they had no sight."

The fire was knocked down, then ended up relighting with firefighters still inside.

"Very heroic," Zeller said. "They went through fire."

The girl, unconscious from smoke that swelled and burned her throat, was revived by emergency medical officials, Zeller said.

"The little light at the tunnel is, we have one save," Zeller said outside the building.

"The little bright news that came out of this morning," agreed Doug Fenichel, public information officer for Flanders Fire and Rescue.

Moustafa was a manager at a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 206, employees there said. He had worked there for about 10 years, and for a time his wife worked part time alongside him, they said.

A fellow manager who identified himself only as Amr, said Moustafa had been a dedicated employee and a friendly co-worker.

"He loved to help everybody he could," Amr said.

A next-door neighbor who attended school with Carmella Moustafa described Hesham Moustafa as a "very, very nice guy."

"Mr. Moustafa was always smiling, very friendly," said the neighbor, who declined to be identified. "He always made sure to say ‘Hi.’ The kids used to come over and play with the dog once in a while. They’re just good kids."
Star-Ledger staff writers Tom Haydon, Sue Epstein and Susan K. Livio and Louis C. Hochman of NJ.com contributed to this report.